Google Drive has been providing a great online file storage solution for a long time now, but the file deletion process has been kept manual all this while. However, Google Drive is changing its policies. Starting from 13th October 2020, files in the Trash in Google Drive will get automatically deleted after they are kept for a period longer than 30 days.
This means that the items that are present in the Trash folder of Google Drive on 13th October will stay there for another 30 days, and then, Google Drive will automatically delete them.
Previously, all this trash was retained for an indefinite period, or until the user would decide to delete the files in Trash themselves. Sometimes, while reviewing those Trashed items, users would save some files too, but regardless of what the user did with those items, their fate depended on the user’s whim and will. Now, the user will be on a tight rope of a 30 days period. If they want to review their trashed items, they must do it within those 30 days, otherwise, they have to be prepared to see an empty trash folder after 30 days are over.
This is a fair policy, and it gives a user an ample amount of time to decide what they want to do with the items they believe are useless. It also suits different storage plans and packages that the user chooses. So, all in all, this is an efficient way to take care of Trash in Google Drive and it will ensure consistent and predictable behavior for users across all G Site products too.
Google Drive has started sending in-app notifications about this new update to all users. From 29th September, a message will start floating about this change in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and other G Suite products too.
For enterprise customers, some considerations are slightly different from individual customers.
In an enterprise, admins will have the ability to restore items that have been deleted from a user’s trash for up to 25 days for active users.
Secondly, retention policies set by admins in Google Vault remain unaffected by this new update, unless they become obsolete.
An important point to note is that these changes will affect all the items that are trashed from any platform, any device.
Files that are deleted through Drive File Stream will be removed from the system after 30 days. But there will be no impact on Backup and Sync functionality.
Files in the Trash of shared drives will also be automatically deleted after 30 days, and the most important thing to remember is that items and files in your Trash keep consuming your quota. So, you have to keep an eye on your files in the Trash folder of Google Drive always.
Photo: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
Read next: Changes to Google Play Games UI Might Mean a Much Better User Experience
This means that the items that are present in the Trash folder of Google Drive on 13th October will stay there for another 30 days, and then, Google Drive will automatically delete them.
Previously, all this trash was retained for an indefinite period, or until the user would decide to delete the files in Trash themselves. Sometimes, while reviewing those Trashed items, users would save some files too, but regardless of what the user did with those items, their fate depended on the user’s whim and will. Now, the user will be on a tight rope of a 30 days period. If they want to review their trashed items, they must do it within those 30 days, otherwise, they have to be prepared to see an empty trash folder after 30 days are over.
This is a fair policy, and it gives a user an ample amount of time to decide what they want to do with the items they believe are useless. It also suits different storage plans and packages that the user chooses. So, all in all, this is an efficient way to take care of Trash in Google Drive and it will ensure consistent and predictable behavior for users across all G Site products too.
Google Drive has started sending in-app notifications about this new update to all users. From 29th September, a message will start floating about this change in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and other G Suite products too.
For enterprise customers, some considerations are slightly different from individual customers.
In an enterprise, admins will have the ability to restore items that have been deleted from a user’s trash for up to 25 days for active users.
Secondly, retention policies set by admins in Google Vault remain unaffected by this new update, unless they become obsolete.
An important point to note is that these changes will affect all the items that are trashed from any platform, any device.
Files that are deleted through Drive File Stream will be removed from the system after 30 days. But there will be no impact on Backup and Sync functionality.
Files in the Trash of shared drives will also be automatically deleted after 30 days, and the most important thing to remember is that items and files in your Trash keep consuming your quota. So, you have to keep an eye on your files in the Trash folder of Google Drive always.
Photo: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
Read next: Changes to Google Play Games UI Might Mean a Much Better User Experience
